The Moth and the Firefly
by Lourado
Summary: Dib/OC Because of Membrane,Dib can no longer study the paranormal.Until the Swollen Eyeball Network decide to make him a Higher Rank member.But in order to enjoy his life as a real Paranormal Investigator, he'll need...full summary in CH. 1 M for lang/f.


Full Summary: Dib/OC

After Professor Membrane forces his son to study real science ,Dib can no longer study the paranormal. That is, until the Swollen Eyeball Network decide to make him a Higher Rank member. But in order to enjoy his life as a real Paranormal Investigator, he'll need the assistance of another member in order to keep everything a secret, especially when everyone is watching...Rate M for Language, and Future Chapters.

Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins

The big-headed boy in the back seat sighed. He leaned his elbow against the window of the vehicle, supporting his humongous head in his hand. Outside, the autumn trees and warm-colored houses zoomed by, quiet neighborhoods turning into cities, then turning back into neighborhoods. Everything was so different than where he lived, but then again, he was in a whole different state.

"So, son! I can see you are EXCITED to be going to College!" the big-headed boy's father, Professor Membrane, stated enthusiastically. He was at the steering wheel, flying the hover car that he himself invented. He didn't look back at his son, just kept looking forward. In the 'shotgun' seat , sat his daughter, Gaz. She was quiet, concentrating on her Game-Slave 4.63; the only noise coming from her were actually the piggy-vampire squeals from her videogame.

"Yeah….sure, dad." The boy grunted, his eyes drooping from boredom.

"Ah, GREAT! And I'm also proud that you got accept to DALE! They've got quite the science department, and it's the school your ol' man went to as well!" Membrane started to ramble off about his college days, experimenting on the campus squirrels and his inventions like the Super-Pen, which could also be used as an eggbeater.

Dib rolled his eyes. He knew that Membrane had bribed the Dean at DALE to accept him. Ever since Dib had been a big-headed baby, he's been obsessed with the paranormal. And his dad always hated that. Membrane tried many times to urge his son to pursue 'real' science, but all have failed. Dib continued to claim the title of Paranormal Investigator. But now that he was being forced to go to DALE, Dib knew his dad's paid goons were going to make him take 'real' science classes and keep him away from all his paranormal studies.

Just as Dib was starting to doze off, the hover car came to a quick halt, jerking him forward and hitting his head on the seat in front of him. He rubbed his temple as he leaned back in his seat. "We're HERE!" announced Membrane, setting the car on the ground, parking it.. Dib sighed and opened the door of the car, getting out. If this wasn't the start of his new, miserable, supervised life, he would have been amazed by the building. The main building of the school was huge and dark silver-y color. The capital letters D-A-L-E were centered on the building, in navy blue color. College students were walking around, some chatting in groups on the grass and others running around trying to get to their classes on time.

"Well, here you go, son." Membrane said, dropping Dib's luggage in front of him. Dib can hear his collection of super-natural objects (that he was able to sneak passed Membrane's search bots) break. He glared at Membrane, who didn't seem to care. "Ok, son. I guess this is farewell. Remember to join the Science Club!" he leaned his head back, giving a hearty laugh. "I will keep in contact with you…and all your science teachers!" he turned to the car. "Gaz! Is there anything you would like to say to your brother before he leaves?"

Gaz growled. "Dad! I'm on level 471! I'm only 385 levels away from beating the game! Do you mind?" she went back to her game. Membrane laughed again. "Ah, yes. Great advice Gaz!" he said. Dib raised an eyebrow at his dad. Next thing he knew, his dad was in the driver seat of his car. "Good bye son! I'll be expecting your first invention in the mail in a couple of days!" the car then came to life and started to hover. Membrane laughed once more, and then him, Gaz and his hover car were zooming off, his laughing echoing in Dib's head.

After a long silence, Dib shook the thoughts out of his head. He went to pick up his luggage. As he walked to the building, he could hear the rattling of the broken jar that had contained his Big Foot spit and the possessed dog squeaky toy squeaking.

Later That Day

Dib entered his dorm room. And guess where he was assigned….within feet of the Science building. He slammed the door behind him, carrying the only piece of luggage he was allowed to bring into his room: the one containing his clothes. At the registration center, he was ganged up on by some school security guards. They said they detected objects that could be used as weapons in his bags. Dib, who was feeling discouraged already, didn't attempt to save his broken stuff. He growled at the guards, who began to throw his stuff into a random wood-chipper.

Dib fell back onto his bed, laying in the dark. Tomorrow, he had to start taking 'real' science classes, such as Physics, Biology, and Chemistry. He attempted to try and sneak some paranormal classes into his schedule, but the lady at the registry desk had told him that those classes were all full. She didn't even check on her computer. She just kept twisting a large diamond ring around her finger. Dib suspected that she had probably bought that with the money his dad gave her as a bribe.

"This is a nightmare…" he murmured under his breath, hoping it actually was. Soon afterwards he was sleeping, dreaming of Big Foot, vampires, ghosts, the Loch Ness Monster and aliens.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Dib shifted in his sleep.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The beeping got louder with each passing beep. Dib started to open his eyes, his vision groggily. Another beep later, and he was fully awake, a giant smile on his face. He had totally forgotten the communicator on his wrist. He pressed the button and up appeared a hologram screen, the whole Swollen Eyeball team in front of him. "Congrats, Agent Mothman. You are a college student now." said Agent Darkbootie. Dib frowned.

"I may be a college student, but I still feel caged! I thought that finally going to college would free me to do whatever I wanted, but my dad had bribed the faculty at DALE and now…I'm not allowed to ever study the paranormal…" he bowed his head in disappointment.

"Ah, yes…we heard about Membrane…" Darkbootie thought out loud. He then turned around to the other members and whispered something. He turned back around to Dib and said, "Will you give us a second?" and then shut off his transmission. Dib sighed again, laying back down again.

A minute or so later, Dib's wrist communicated started beeping again. Dib answered it immediately. It was the Swollen Eyeball team again. "Mothman, you said you are attending DALE, right?" Darkbootie asked. Dib nodded. "Meaning you're in Thatstate." Dib nodded again. "Yeah…"

"Well, it so happens our Headquarter is in Thatstate." Darkbootie said slowly, hinting at what he was about to do. Dib's eyes widened. He sat up so quickly, he felt lightheaded. "I talked it over with the other members in the Swollen Eyeball Network, and we've agreed that you've earned a seat with the high ranks…a seat with us…"

Dib couldn't believe it. He was FINALLY a high ranking Swollen Eyeball member. "Oh, Darkbootie! Thank you! Thank you!" he grinned so wide, it looked like it hurt. If Darkbootie hadn't stopped him, Dib would have thanked every single member in the meeting room. "I will send someone to pick you up and bring you to the headquarters. I can't send you the address over transmission because it could obviously be intersected." Dib nodded.

"But…we can't do it immediately…We're quite too busy at the moment. If you will, wait a month or so. But be on the look-out for one of our field members. You'll know them when you see them."

Dib frowned. He had always been the impatient type. But he smiled again in gratitude. "I will wait, Agent Darkbootie." he gave a sort of salute. Darkbootie chuckled. "Welcome aboard, fellow Investigator." he then signed off.

Dib's room went dark again. Dib was exciting, his mind clouded with thoughts of again participating in the studies of the paranormal.

He laid his head down, thinking about everything he would be able to do again, forgetting that the next day would probably be a boring hell for him. But he didn't care at the moment.

An hour or so later, he fell back asleep.

A/N: Hoped you enjoyed this first chapter. Please send a review and tell me what you think so far. Also, if I happen to miss any grammar or spelling errors, please do tell me. I'm a freak when it comes to grammar and spelling and if I happen to miss a mistake, I will go back and correct it.

BTW: And yes, I do like the name of this chapter. It totally fits!


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